This invention relates to systems for securing objects to mass-trasit vehicles, such as busses. In the preferred embodiment, the invention relates to a system for remote operation of restraint devices used for securing wheelchairs in busses.
A common problem in public transit is how to quickly and easily secure wheelchairs in mass-transit vehicles. A known technique for securing a wheelchair is to provide four flexible restraining belts, one for each corner of the wheelchair. To secure the wheelchair to the vehicle, each of these belts is attached to a respective corner of the wheelchair and to a respective point on the bus. This holds the wheelchair to the bus when tension is applied to the belts.
One such system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,038. The system shown in that patent employs restraining belts that are permanently attached to a vehicle, with one of the belt housings being movable between an operational position and a storage position. Thus, in the preferred embodiment shown in that patent, two housings for restraining belts are provided at the rear of a tie-down area, and each of these belts is adapted to be attached to a respective rear corner of the wheelchair. The front belts are adapted to be attached to the front corners of the wheelchair.
While this technique provides excellent safety for the wheelchair occupant, it can be difficult to use. The difficulty in applying the belts arises because the belts must be placed in tension after attachment to the wheelchair, and it is usually difficult for the bus operator to reach the belt housings, particularly those near the wall of the bus, because the floor space allowed for the wheelchair is minimal. Thus, the driver must often bend over and reach to retrieve the belts from their storage locations to attach the belts to the wheelchair as it is moved into the securing area and then again reach the belt housings to tighten the belts after the wheelchair has been moved fully into the securing area. This latter motion often requires the operator to reach through a narrow space between a panel, or barrier at the rear of the securing area and the back of the wheelchair, a procedure that can be difficult.
In accordance with the invention, flexible-belt restraint housings are attached to a barrier commonly found on busses or to a seat that has been folded to form a barrier. The release mechanisms of the belt housings may be levers capable of remote operation by a cable or other means, and a release assembly is attached to the barrier in a location easily reached by the operator. This allows the operator to control the restraint devices from a standing or slightly stooped position. Thus, by using the arrangement of the invention, the operator need only bend over to extend and then attach the restraint belts to the wheelchair when the wheelchair is far enough from the barrier to make those operations comfortable, and then tightening or releasing the belts from a standing position.
The particular belt devices employed are preferably of the type that is locked until released by moving a release lever. When released, the belts automatically retract into the housings, for example, by a spring return known in the art.
In use, the operator moves the wheelchair passenger partially into the wheelchair location. Then, he operates the handle of the remote assembly with one hand whereby the housings release the belts. The operator holds the lever of the remote assembly with one hand and pulls the belts out to the desired length with the other. He then releases the lever, which leaves the belts at the desired length because the housings automatically lock. Then he attaches hooks on the belts to the wheelchair frame and moves the wheelchair to the final location in the securing area. He then operates the handle again allowing the belts to retract by spring retraction to tension the restraint belts.